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January 6, 2025
TalkShopLive Pushes Up Against TikTok: Will Livestream Shopping Increase in 2025?
Livestream shopping may be something of an enigma to many in the United States, but it is growing in popularity as of late.
According to a 2023 CNBC report, live commerce (another term for livestream shopping) had become a titanic industry in China, accounting for a market estimated to be worth $512 billion in value. In contrast, and although numbers were initially revised upward in 2023, the United States live commerce market was, at that time, worth about $50 billion.
In June 2023, Deborah Weinswig, CEO of Coresight Research, suggested that livestream shopping could account for over 5% of total e-commerce sales in the U.S. by 2026.
TalkShopLive Competes With TikTok for Livestream Shopping Market Share
In more recent news, it appears that TikTok may have a major fight on its hands when it comes to maintaining its position in the live commerce space.
As Modern Retail reported, TalkShopLive — famous for its livestream shopping experiences — has launched TSL Shoppettes. Essentially very brief Reels that can be shared to Meta properties Facebook and Instagram, these Reels are entirely shoppable, containing direct links to products for any interested audience members.
Given that TikTok’s fate in the United States remains uncertain, TalkShopLive and other competitors in the space have signaled a push forward into uncharted territory, building upon previous victories.
In recent years, the company has expanded by forming video commerce partnerships with prominent retailers, as reported by Modern Retail. For instance, in November, Amazon collaborated with TalkShopLive to create a series of shows for its livestreaming platform, Amazon Live. In 2023, TalkShopLive introduced “shoppable simulcasts on Facebook and Instagram Live.” While specific numbers weren’t disclosed, CEO Bryan Moore revealed that these simulcasts drove a 25% increase in platform-wide sales in 2024. According to Moore, Meta was a logical starting point for Shoppettes due to the proven success brands and creators have experienced with simulcasts on the platform.
Currently, TalkShopLive has moved to make its shopping experience more frictionless, allowing sellers to use its embeddable media player to reach audiences across various social media platforms. Moore gestured toward TikTok’s potential exile from the U.S. market as emblematic of the importance of platform diversity.
“I really believe that anybody who’s creating an overall video commerce content strategy doesn’t want to be dependent on a single platform,” Moore said.
“One of the major benefits of TalkShopLive is that while we’ve created a technology that cuts the friction and path to purchase for the customer, we’ve also really created a technology that cuts the friction and path to use for a brand or retailer,” he added.
Is Live Commerce or Livestream Shopping Here To Stay?
It seems very likely that live commerce or livestream shopping will persist in the American market, although it does face some headwinds.
According to a 2023 McKinsey & Company report, China is already considered a mature market in this context. However, nearly half of American consumers surveyed were hungry for a bit more opportunity to buy via livestream or live commerce.
“Yet even in its most mature market, live commerce retains growth potential,” McKinsey & Company reported. The firm shared that approximately 72% of users in China “agreed or strongly agreed” that they wanted to purchase more products through this shopping format, surpassing users in Latin America (63%), the United States (49%), and Europe (38%). Similarly, 67% of Chinese users “agreed or strongly agreed” that they wanted to increase their spending, compared to 49% in Latin America, 39% in the United States, and 33% in Europe.
The report also stated that the barriers to live commerce were varied — for Americans, it was an often questionable value-for-money proposition and inconvenient show timing. U.S. respondents also felt shows were often too long for their tastes.
This could be a trend addressed by the future TalkShopLive and similar platforms. Speaking to Modern Retail, Melissa Minkow, RetailWire BrainTrust member and director of retail strategy at digital consultancy firm CI&T, described Shoppettes as taking “the live out of TalkShopLive.”
Livestream Shopping Still a Nascent Market in the US, Filled With Opportunity (and Risk)
While Meta discontinued its own live shopping services in the past, as both TechCrunch and McKinsey & Company indicated, it appears that TikTok’s potential exit — and a renewed interest in instant or live shopping — could reinvigorate a once-defunct buying option.
“Whether TikTok goes away or not, all the attention that’s being shed on it is forcing everyone from brands and consumers alike to develop a plan B,” Minkow added. “And that’s where TalkShopLive is realizing there’s more of an opening for them.”
Other reselling platforms such as Whatnot are also making gains, particularly among collectors. As TechCrunch detailed, Whatnot recently saw livestream sales on its platform exceed $2 billion per year, a new high-water mark. The company claims that over two-thirds of its sellers earn more than $10,000 a month from livestream sales and that nearly 25% earn more than $300,000 annually.
Discussion Questions
Will American consumers tune in to livestream shopping in greater numbers in 2025 and beyond?
Does livestream shopping represent an actual opportunity for retailers (large and small) to capitalize on a growing market, or is it a trend mostly reserved for individual resellers?
Has TikTok succeeded in at least cultivating a generation of American consumers attuned to livestream shopping and other live commerce options?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Neil Saunders
Managing Director, GlobalData
Georganne Bender
Principal, KIZER & BENDER Speaking
John Lietsch
CEO/Founder, Align Business Consulting
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At what point do we say enough? People have to be calling SOS – Sick Of Shopping. I know I am.
I can’t enjoy social media any longer without being bombarded with a multitude of shopping opportunities. Facebook is now a ridiculous list of brands I might like and it’s annoying. I want to see what actual friends have to say.
We are on our way to becoming a nation of lonely people who watch live streaming the same way some people are addicted to TV shopping channels. We could all use less screen time and more person to person contact.
Transactional shopping isn’t the only way to shop. The live commerce industry understands this. The customers are involved, which in turn benefits the brands. The future of live commerce in the United States is bright for a number of reasons:
1. Engaging consumers and converting them is easier with live commerce. For American consumers, this is crucial.
2. Conversion rates are low in eCommerce. Most people click on an ad, visit the website, look around a bit, and leave. The majority of people don’t buy. Only 2% do.
3. There are no limits to the questions consumers can ask, and they get a response immediately. Enhanced engagement also fosters community building.
4. Additionally, credibility and trust can be enhanced. Demonstrating products in real time boosts product trust almost immediately, where content takes brands months to create.
5. Impulse buying is a factor. Live interactions and limited-time offers tap into the psychology of impulse buying. Americans are impulse buyers.
6. Viewers’ reactions can be gauged and presentations can be adjusted on the fly by brands and hosts. As a result, brands are able to fine-tune their messaging more easily.
It is true that Amazon and social media platforms are popular channels because of their large audiences, but hosting live shopping events on your own brand store has numerous benefits for both you and your customers. Integrating it into your eCommerce site gives you more control and increases conversions, as well as providing shoppers with a seamless experience without changing platforms.
By incorporating interactive elements such as polls and Q&A sessions, brands can further boost engagement in live commerce. Live events can also feature influencers or brand ambassadors to attract larger audiences and build credibility. Furthermore, offering exclusive discounts or promotions during live sessions can help create a sense of urgency.
Livestream shopping is growing and it is becoming more significant. However, it remains a small part of the mix and I don’t see it becoming as dominant in the US as it is in China. It’s also not exactly new. QVC and other home shopping networks have been offering it for years.
First, Amen to Georganne’s “less screen time” comment. Aside from that, livestream shopping remains a very viable option for sellers and has been used successfully by several large retailers and brands. And we should not be discouraged by comparisons to China’s experience with livestream shopping. China’s culture is different and many of China’s highly successful live events are huge productions with well paid, often famous, hosts and hostesses. Therefore, the challenge is how to translate that success to the masses, the unfamous sellers who act as their own hosts and hostesses without large production budgets.
I believe the opportunity remains and that the combination of both a livestream and a shoppable video (Shoppettes) can be a powerful one. The challenge is avoiding the train wrecks typically associated with us “non-professional,” individual sellers that can affect the overall experience and diminish the value of the medium. Many retailers like Poshmark have devoted resources to helping sellers use livestream shopping more effectively, reducing both the length of the live and the amount of products shown. The other key will be the continued acceptance by retailers to use the technology themselves to continue to blur the lines between physical and digital retail and meet their customers in the comfort of “anywhere!” Neither of those require famous hosts and large production investments so if nothing else, it’s worth pursuing – at least through 2025!
Having been in the live shopping space for 12+ years, both as a brand and as a host/influencer, I’ve seen first hand the power of live shopping. Yes, sales conversion rates are much higher, but in my opinion the greatest value for ecomm brands lies in the hidden benefits that so few people are aware of–I.E. reduced return rates, increased AOV, improved SEO rankings, increased postive product reviews, significantly increased “time on page,” stronger customer engagement, etc. Most don’t realize that it’s also an incredible market research/product development tool. I have no doubt that once the ecommerce world fully understands the enormity of the benefits related to live shopping, the market for it will expload. In case it’s helpful for anyone, I’m linking a webinar I recently hosted about the benefits of live shopping that I just described.
https://vimeo.com/1019157925?share=copy
Livestream shopping is definitely growing, and we’ll likely see more American consumers embracing it in 2025. TikTok has made it a fun, interactive way to shop, and while it’s mostly been popular with individual resellers, bigger retailers are starting to see the value too. That said, there are some challenges. Livestream shopping might not appeal to everyone, especially older consumers who may not be as comfortable with it. Plus, keeping up consistent engagement and authenticity in a fast-paced live environment can be tough for brands. While TikTok has done a great job getting younger consumers hooked on live commerce, the model still faces issues with scaling and reliability, especially for larger retailers. In the future, livestream shopping will likely be part of a larger strategy, but it’ll need to overcome these challenges to truly take off.
Unless everyone suddenly has found more hours in the day, consumers continue to be more time-pressed than ever. And corporate back-to-the-office policies make it harder to sneak in segments of streaming online shopping, let alone driving to a retail at the end of the work day for in person shopping. I don’t see the livestream market share growing so much as some channels doing better, and eventually replacing others, i.e. TikTok growth over HSN, QVC, etc.
Amazon, Walmart and TikTok Shop have all increased their investments in livestreams, including during the 2024 holiday season. These retail giants are influencing consumer habits and normalizing live commerce, which will continue to grow in the U.S and increasingly mobile global markets like Latin America.